Putin tops Russians’ trust ratings with 80% support

The latest public opinion poll has shown that 80 percent of Russians approve of Vladimir Putin’s work in general. Putin also topped the trust rating of Russian politicians followed by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

According to the research conducted by specialists of the independent Russian company Levada Center, 80 percent of Russians approve of the president’s performance. 19 percent of responders said they were not content with Putin’s presidential course and 1 percent described themselves as undecided. The presidential approval rating has decreased slightly from the peak value of 89 percent registered in late June 2015.

When asked about their opinion on the work of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Cabinet in general, 55 percent of Russians said that they considered it worthy of approval while 45 percent disagreed with this position. 2 percent of those polled could not give a direct answer to the question. The Lower House of the Russian parliament – the State Duma – currently enjoys support of 42 percent of citizens and 56 percent said that they disapproved of the lawmakers’ activities. Again, one percent of responders remained undecided over the issue.

Also, 49 percent of the Russian public told researchers that in their opinion the general course chosen by the country’s authorities was right and 33 percent hold that it is wrong. 18 percent found this question too difficult to answer.

When researchers asked who of Russian politicians enjoyed the most trust among the public, Vladimir Putin was first in the list with 53 percent, followed by Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu with 26 percent and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with 20 percent. 12 percent of Russians said they considered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev the person most worthy of their trust and the same share of respondents trusted most Vladimir Zhirinovsky – the founder and all-time leader of the populist nationalist party LDPR.

A different poll conducted about one month ago by the government-owned research center VTSIOM also demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of Russians approved of the work of their president. It also showed that the number of Vladimir Putin supporters is high even among members of opposition parties.

According to VTSIOM, the share of Russians who said they are happy with Vladimir Putin’s performance as president was 82 percent in late April. Even more Russians – 84 percent – said they are ready to vote for Putin at the presidential elections.

According to the The Foundation for Development of Civil Society – the NGO that ordered the poll – the figures showed that the “pro-Putin majority” in Russia currently has significant influence on various public activities and the potential for expansion. The activists also said in comments that the results of the poll demonstrated that the next convocation of the State Duma, which will be elected in September, would be largely pro-Putin.